Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
Directed by Michael Bay
The Autobots continue to work for NEST, now no longer in secret. But after discovering a strange artifact during a mission in Chernobyl, it becomes apparent to Optimus Prime that the United States government has been less than forthright with them.
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31 films that influenced Transformers: Dark of the Moon
What critics say influenced Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The final battle for the planet takes up that final hour, and it combines "Independence Day," "War of the Worlds," and "Star Wars" with exactly none of the fun of those movies.
Roland Emmerich, who destroyed Washington in "Independence Day," New York in the 1988 "Godzilla" and Los Angeles in "2012," staged his cataclysms with visual-spatial logic and jagged jolts of wit.
All the technical prowess of “aliens invade” thrillers, from “Independence Day” through “Battle: Lost Angeles,” and the best comic actors money can buy serve “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” well.
Suffice it to say that, after a stop in Washington to destroy a national moment (a requirement in all pictures like this since “Independence Day”—in this instance it’s the Lincoln Memorial), it al winds up with the Decepticons in control of a devastated Chicago as ground zero of Megatron’s hostile takeover of the planet, and Sam and his comrades-in-arms, both the Autobots and humans Captain Lennox (Josh Duhamel) and ex-Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson), inside the city attempting to derail the plot.
Toss in more fun with the Laurel & Hardy mini-bots, the vocal contribution of Mr. Leonard Nimoy (which enhances several clever Star Trek references), and as sequels go, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is an acceptable summer action flick.
As a lapsed Trekkie (maybe not so lapsed, after all), I can provide a catalogue of the Star Trek references in Transformers 3: a clip from "Amok Time", a mention of the Enterprise, and the biggest of all - Leonard Nimoy (providing the voice of Sentinal Prime) delivering this gem: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
We also get a Leonard Nimroy voiced Sentinel Prime who makes for a great character that throws out a few subtle Star Trek references which should please fans who catch onto them.
Also, credit Bay with an inspired confluence of “Star Trek” and Autobot lore.
For me, the coolest moments involved references to the original "Star Trek" television series, including Sentinel Prime's utterance (via Nimoy's voice) that "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
Anyway, after an ingenious hook of an opening scene, Bay and screenwriter Ehren Kruger pile on caricatures (John Turturro as the obsessive Agent Simmons, John Malkovich as eccentric software genius Bruce Brazos) and comedy scenes (special credit to Alan Tudyk, who vamps tired bits with madcap commitment and wild intensity) until Sentinel Prime is revived with the voice of Leonard Nimoy (complete with gratuitous "Star Trek" gag) and the evil Decipticon scheme is revealed.
Even the action becomes tiresome after a while; that aforementioned car chase was certainly more than enough for one movie, but Bay throws in another long car chase (one that's far too reminiscent of a similar sequence within Jackie Chan's Police Story) which is admittedly well-executed but enough is enough.
…and in desperate need of a merciless editor (this isn't an epic like The Lord of the Rings, so there's no need for it to be over two hours).
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While action films like The Matrix or Terminator 2 may be better on the whole, when it comes down to the action itself, and only the action, Bay gives us scenes that are equally, if not more exciting than the aforementioned films.
The third in the Transformers franchise, “Dark of the Moon,” hews to the Rule of Three established by the “Matrix” and original “Star Wars” trilogies: As overseen by Michael Bay and Hasbro, the new installment is darker in tone, more frenetic, assumes a fair degree of insider knowledge on the part of series aficionados, and, most importantly, it ups the ante in sophisticated CG battle effects.
And they are so many times larger than the humans that I was reminded of the scale used in "The Incredible Shrinking Man."
Jeong’s high-pitched character is essentially lifted from “The Hangover,’’ and that’s not the only overlap with other recent flicks.
He may have absorbed a few lessons from the Judd Apatow-Todd Phillips school, too, because the film's lighter side has been further embellished by the presence of Ken Jeong (The Hangover, Knocked Up).
Soon, Sammy gets hired by an eccentric new boss (John Malkovich, with gleaming teeth and a wig), and an even stranger colleague (The Hangover’s Ken Jeong) leads Sammy back to the world of warring machines where he can be a hero again.
Unless he’s in them with the hilarious Ken Jeong of “The Hangover” movies.
There’s all sorts of terrible comedy, most of which involves The Hangover’s Ken Jeong as an even-more-eccentric-than-Malkovich company vice president, but for our amusement, everyone keeps thinking that he and Sam are lovers.
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Just as some commentators have argued this is the case for Sucker Punch , perhaps they will also for Transformers: Dark of the Moon using the way it repeats the famous Jurassic Park ‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear’ visual gag as evidence.
For the first time since Jurassic Park at age 10, I had seen something on the big screen that brought me a true sense of awe.
In that case, Nimoy's lifting of his classic line from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" -- about the needs of the many (moviegoers looking for mindless summer escapism) outweighing the needs of the few (film critics) couldn't be more on the nose.